Last week we questioned the grip of Will.i.am's influence on the mainstream, with his solo effort, #willpower, moving less than 30k opening week. We could also blame this on the ever-waning sales of albums in general. This week, we get LL Cool J's Authentic album as a new entry in Charts Don't Lie. The old school rapper only moved around 13k, and so we gotta ask, what factors played into his serious lack of sales? Inadequate promotion could be the problem-- the LP dropped with little notice this past week, and leading up to it, LL Cool J was not all over the interview circuit like we see most artists these days. This re-affirms the fact that rapping is a young man's game. It's all about what or who is the freshest, and apparently LL no longer has the title. Nonetheless, for those who have heard Authentic, what were your thoughts? Are the people who didn't cop the album missing out?
1) Justin Timberlake—The 20/20 Experience: You know the deal. Justin Timberlake comes in at, you guessed it, the #3 spot this week on the charts. The singer was able to move yet another 69, 264 copies of his come-back album.
2) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis—The Heist: The producer and rapper duo made Billboard history this week when “Can’t Hold Us,” (which is already platinum) hit the #1 spot on the songs chart, and thus made them the first duo to have their first two singles top the charts. The Heist also continues to have success of its own, rising from #11 last week to #7 this week. No doubt the continual media attention the two get every time their singles hit platinum helps keep The Heist atop the charts.
3) Lil Wayne— I Am Not A Human Being II: Weezy F continues his slow drop down the charts. After dropping last week to #12, he falls another spot this week, at #13. The YMCMB rapper moved around 21k of his album.
4) Kid Cudi— INDICUD: Kid Cudi seems to be falling quite fast after his #2 debut with INDICUD. A week after his debut he was at #7, and now the no-longer-G.O.O.D. rapper has dropped to #21. We’ll have to wait and see if Cudder is able to hold up in the long-run. Cudi sold 13,938 units this week.
5) LL Cool J—Authentic: LL Cool J dropped his come-back album, Authentic, without making much noise about it this past week, on May 7th. Perhaps due to the lack of proper promotion, the album has not done too well for opening week. Then again, it could just be it’s no longer LL’s time to shine. The vet rapper debuted at #13, moving 13,820 copies of Authentic in opening week.
6) Kendrick Lamar—good kid, m.A.A.d city: The Compton native continues to climb his way back up the charts, for whatever reason that may be. This week GKMC rose up to #33 with 11,243 copies sold, and an increase of 21% in sales.
7) Tyga—Hotel California: Tyga appears to be another rapper who isn’t able to hold on to long-term sales. His YMCMB album probably will not be in the top 50 of the charts for much longer, coming in this week at #46. Hotel California moved another 8,731 copies
8) Will.i.am— #willpower: Will.i.am’s #willpower seems to have not been very well-received. Perhaps even a flop? After debuting at #9 on the Billboard 200 the popstar/rapper had a steep fall, all the way down to that #48 spot on the 200. His album sold 8,345, down 72% from last week.
In other news on the charts this week, although Rihanna’s “777” tour documentary promoting her album Unapologetic was considered a flop, the album itself definitely isn’t. Unapologetic comes in at #19, up from last week. Snoop Lion, who debuted last week with Reincarnated at #16 on the Billboard 200, fell to #47 this week, keeping himself within the top 50 of the Billboard 200, although it may not be for much longer. Tyler, The Creator's WOLF album dropped even more down the Billboard 200 this week, landing at #89 after five weeks on the charts. This is, interestingly enough, below A$AP Rocky's debut album, Long.Live.A$AP, which rose up to #82, after sixteen weeks of charting.